Turf cultivating spoon mounting arrangement



United States Patent Inventor Thomas C. Mascaro West Point, Pennsylvania Appl. No. 770,351 Filed Oct. 24, 1968 Patented Oct. 20,1970 Assignee By mesne assignments to Keamy-National,

Inc. New York, New York a corporation of Delaware.

TURF CULTIVATING SPOON MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT 8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 172/21, 172/540, 172/681, 287/23 Int. Cl AOlb 45/02 Field of Search 172/540,

56/(1nquired). 287/23 [56] References Cited UNfT ED STATES PATENTS 2,115,265 4/1938 Jennett 172/550UX 2,580,236 12/1951 Mascaro 172/21X FOREIGN PATENTS 711,913 6/1965 Canada 172/762 250,490 9/1912 Germany 172/556 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Bagwill Assistant ExaminerAlan E. Kopecki Attorney-l-lowson and Howson ABSTRACT: A turf-cultivating spoon is demountably attached to the edge of a vertical supporting disc by means of an axial slot in the tubular shank portion of the spoon adapted to receive the disc, a bolt passing transversely through aligned holes in said spoon shank and said disc adjacent the edge of said disc, and studs extending from each side of said disc adapted to slidably engage slots in the inner end of said spoon shank portion.

Patented Oct. 20, 1970 NVENTORZ THOMAS c MASCARO z W ATTYS.

The present invention relates generally to turf-aerating ap paratus and re .s more particularly to an arrangement for demountably a aching the turf-cultivating spoons of such apparatus to the spoonsupporting discs.

in turf-aerating apparatus of the type shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,236., plurality of turf-cultivating spoons are attached to the periphery of vertical discs which are mounted in spaced relation for rotation on a common axle at a suitable height above the ground to permit a turf-cultivating action by the radially protruding spoons. The spoons, due to repeated engagement with the soil are subject to wear and must on occasion be sharpened or replaced. Since a typical machine may include a hundred or more cultivating spoons, the spoons must be readily removable from the discs.

Prior to the present development, it has been conventional to attach each cultivating spoon to a supporting disc by slotting the tubular spoon shank to receive the disc, and passing a pair of bolts transversely through suitable aligned holes in the disc and slotted spoon shank. For spoon replacement with this conventional arrangement, both bolts must be removed and replaced.

To significantly reduce the time and effort involved in the removal and replacement of the spoons, the present invention provides an arrangement whereby only a single bolt need be removed or replaced to free or attach a cultivating spoon to its supporting disc. in brief, the present arrangement includes the conventional axial slot in the tubular shank of the cultivating spoon to receive the edge of the spoon-supporting disc. The spoon is dcmountaoly secured to the disc by means of a bolt passing through aligned holes in the disc and spoon shank adjacent the edge of the disc, and by means of slots in the ends of the spoon shank which cooperate with studs extending from the disc which prevent rotation of the spoon in the plane of the disc. For replacement of the spoon, only one bolt need be removed in contrast to the conventional mounting arrangement in which the removal or" two bolts is required.

in view of the above it is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide in a turf-aerating device, an improved arrangcinezit for demountably securing a cultivating spoon to a spooipporting disc.

A furthe object of the invention is to provide a mounting Ffiiflfill'l described which permits the removal and tent or cultivating spoon in half the time formerly rennin, a conventional mounting arrangement.

An additior l object of the invention is to provide a mounting arrangement as described which is simple and relatively inexpensive to fail "care.

Additional ol eats and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FlG. l is a perspective view showing a cultivating spoon attached to a partially shown supporting disc by a mounting arrangen'ieut in accordance with the present invention;

HG. 2! is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. l showing details of the spoonunounting arrangement;

Flt fl is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of H6. 2;

WE. is an rploded perspective view of the elements cornprising the assembly of l-lGS. ll il;

FIG. h a partial sectional view showing a modified embodiment of the invention; and

HG. o is a sectional view similar to lFlG. 5 showing a further modified embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and particularly FlG. ll thereof, a cultivating spoon ll'il is shown demountably attached to the edge of a disc by means of a. mounting arrangement embodying the present invention. in an aerating device of the present type as shown in my US. Pat. No. 2,5 80,236, cultivating spoons such as the spoon ill are attached around the periphery of a plurality of vertical axially spaced discs which rotate about a common axis suitably spaced above the ground to effect a turt cultivating action of the spoons as the device is advanced. This type of device is presently in widespread use for the conditioning of golf courses, athletic fields and lawns.

The cultivating spoon includes a tubular shank portion lid and a spoon-shaped turf engaging portion in. Because of the repeated engagement and disengagement of the portion to with the turf, the spoons are subject to fairly rapid wear and their removal for reconditioning or replacement is frequently necessary. ln view of the large number of spoons utilized in a device of this type, it is highly desirable that means be provided to facilitate the rapid mounting and removal of the spoons.

It has, as illustrated in my above-mentioned patent. been conventional to attach the spoons to the discs by axially slotting the shank of each spoon to receive a disc and by bolting the bifurcated spoon shank portion to the disc by means of a pair of bolts passing through aligned bolt holes in the disc and shank portion. The present arrangement is similar in so far as a slot in the spoon shank portion is utilized to receive the disc, and one bolt adjacent the disc edge is passed through the bifurcated shank portion and disc to partially secure the spoon to the disc. As seen in FlGS. li o, the tubular shank portion includes an axial slot ill adapted to permit a sliding engagement of the spoon with the disc. A. bolt 20 is passed through the aligned holes 22, 22 in the bifurcated shank portion and hole 24 in the disc which is located adjacent the disc edge Nut 2.8 is tightened on the bolt N to secure the spoon in place.

The inner end 39 of the spoon shank portion is secured to the disc by a novel stud and slot arrangement instead of the conventional second bolt. A pair of studs extending from opposite sides of the disc cooperate with axial slots 3d, 34 in the end of the bifurcated shank portion to effectively lock the spoon in place on the disc by preventing rotation of the spoon in the plane of the disc around the bolt 2d. The slots 1%, 3d are of a width just sufficient to permit a sliding engagement of the shank portion over the studs 32, 32 as is evident from FlCv. 3. Conical shoulder portions of the studs extending between the disc and the point of engagement of the studs with the spoon shank portions add rigidity to the studs and prevent a possible flattening of the cylindrically shaped bifurcated shank portions due to an overtightening of the bolt and nut 20 and 28.

The manner in which the studs are attached to the disc may take several forms. in the embodiment of ll, the shank 42 or" each stud extends into a bore in the disc. lEach stud is axially bored to receive a bolt do which passes through the opposed pair of studs and is secured by nut it to lock the studs in position. The studs are of a sufficient axial dimension so that the bolt and nut do and do not engage the bifurcated shank portion when slid into position over the studs.

Another stud-mounting arrangement is shown in H6. 5 wherein the studs 5% and El, instead of employing a through bolt for attachment to the disc, are connected by an internal screw portion 52 on the shank of stud 5% which engages a threaded bore 54 in the opposed stud M. Allen wrench sockets 56 and 58 respectively are provided within the ends of studs S ll and Sll to facilitate attachment and removal thereof.

in H6. ti still another arrangement for mounting the studs is illustrated wherein studs tilt, till similar to those employed in the embodiment of H63. l-l are utilized but without the axial bore and through bolt. instead, the shank portions are press-fitted into the hole in the disc and welds 62 are en ployed around the perimeter of the conical shoulder portion to anchor the studs in place.

To attach a spoon to a disc employing any one of the illus trated embodiments of the invention, the bifurcated shank portion of the spoon is simply slid onto the disc with the slots 34 of the shank portion aligned to engage the studs. The spoon is then pivoted on the studs and adjusted axially until the holes 22 align with the hole Ed in the disc whereupon the bolt Jill is introduced therethrough and tightened to complete the installation. For removal of a spoon, the bolt 26) is simply removed and the spoon may then be slid from the disc.

From the above it can be understood that at least a 50 percent saving in the time normally required to mount and demount the spoons of an aerating device can be achieved utilizing the present invention since only one bolt need be applied or removed instead of the two formerly required. in addition it is substantially simpler to align the holes for the single bolt since the studs and slotted shank portion serve to guide the spoon into the approximately correct position during installation.

The present slot and stud arrangement is relatively inexpensive to fabricate and a conventional aerating disc can be con verted simply by employing the innermost bolt hole for the mounting of the studs.

Manifestly, changes in details of construction can be effected by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in and limited solely by the appended claims.

lclaim:

l. In a turf-aerating device including at least one vertical disc having a plurality of cultivating spoons demountably attached in spaced relation around the periphery thereof, each of said spoons having a generally tubular shank portion with an open axial slot therein receiving the disc, each spoon having a bolt extending transversely through the slotted shank portion and disc adjacent the edge of the disc, the improvement comprising, means for securing the inner end of the spoon shank portion to the disc, said means including a stud extending from each side of said disc, and open slots in said spoon shank portion inner end in slidable engagement with said studs.

2. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein said studs are disposed in axially opposed relation on said disc.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein said slots in said spoon shank portion adapted for slidable engagement with said studs extend axially from said spoon shank portion inner end.

4. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein said studs include conical shoulders between said disc and the spoon shank portions adapted to prevent flattening of said spoon shank portions upon tightening of said bolt.

5. The invention as claimed in claim 2 wherein said opposed studs include shank portions disposed in a hole in said disc.

6. The invention as claimed in claim 5 wherein said studs are secured to said disc by means of a bolt passing through aligned axial bores therein.

7. The invention as claimed in claim 5 wherein said studs are secured to said plate by internal screw means extending through the hole in said disc to join said studs.

8. The invention as claimed in claim 5 wherein said studs are welded to said disc. 

